1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to reproducing contents based on an Electronic Program Guide (EPG).
2. Description of the Related Art
As Internet ready digital TVs become widely distributed, users can enjoy a larger amount of content through various broadcasting channels. In order for the users to identify so many broadcasting channels, each broadcasting channel has begun to provide an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) for the content that it broadcasts.
An EPG may include: a title of each item of content being provided by each broadcast channel, the start and end times of each item of content, description of the item of content and a synopsis of the item of content, or the like.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an EPG in the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of types of content of broadcasting channels CH. 1 to CH. 4 and the schedules of their airing times are shown. The user checks the schedule of such an EPG to view a desired item of content.
For example, in the case where the user wants to watch News 1, the user can choose CH. 1 at 19:00-20:00. Similarly, if the user wants to watch Sports 2, the user can choose CH. 3 at 21:00-23:00.
However, in the related art, the user is required to view the contents according to an EPG provided by a content provider, and therefore the user has to select a set channel at a set time in order to view desired contents, which is inconvenient. Moreover, in the case where the content that the user wants to view is not present, the user can view the contents stored on an external storage device or through the Internet on the TV. In the related art, however, the user searches for and selects the contents from the external storage device or the like, and then the input source of the TV had to be switched so that the selected content can be reproduced through the TV, which is inconvenient.